Lighted electrical connectors often are used in various applications to give a ready visual indication of a circuit condition through the connectors or a condition of an electrical component with which the connectors are coupled in line. The connectors may be used simply to indicate the existence of a current therethrough. In other words, as long as the line circuit is viable, the connectors will remain lighted. If a failure occurs in the line circuit, the lighted connectors will not be energized and, thereby, give a ready visual indication of a line circuit failure.
Such lighted connectors also are used with other types of electrical packaging, i.e. other than for indicating a simple on-off condition. The lighted connectors are used to verify operation or locate a malfunction in applications using proximity switches, limit switches, solenoid valves and the like. The lighted connectors display the status of each of these control components and thereby provide for control system maintenance and troubleshooting. For instance, a lighted connector for a solenoid-actuated valve can give an operator a continuous visual indication of whether the valve is in an extended or retracted state. A light source of one color in the connector may indicate an extended condition of the valve, while another colored light source can indicate a retracted condition of the valve. If the valve loses power, locks in one of the positions, or ceases to operate for any other reason, the operator is able to quickly identify the problem, making control system maintenance and troubleshooting much easier.
Lighted connectors often are used in automotive and industrial applications for troubleshooting on control and sensing devices in automated production lines. Two light emitting diodes (LED's) typically are used in a given lighted connector. A green power LED indicates power to the device, and a red or yellow load LED indicates an operating status of the device. The sensing device may be mechanical, electrical or optical, and, for example, may "sense" the presence or absence of a component on a production line. Such indicating lights may identify a defective sensor or control device and speed-up the troubleshooting process, thereby reducing the down-time of the production line. In some applications, indicating lights are included on the device itself. This is quite costly because the indicating means is lost when the device, itself, is removed. Therefore, such light indicating means have been incorporated in electrical connectors coupled in the line circuit to the device.
One of the problems in using lighted electrical connectors of the character described above is that the cost of such connectors are relatively high. In other words, any given electrical connector is designed to include various features, capabilities or parameters to fulfill the connecting functions for which the connector is being used. Adding a light indicating system within the connector adds considerably to the cost of the connector and, when such a connector becomes defective, the entire apparatus must be replaced. In addition, many electrical systems are set up without any light indicating means whatsoever, and it can be expensive to replace the existing electrical connectors with light indicating connectors.
This invention is directed to solving the above problems by providing a lighted electrical connector adapter which can be placed in-line between a pair of existing electrical connectors to perform a light indicating function without having to replace or redesign the connectors themselves. The adapters may be designed with various standard mating ends for coupling in-line with various standard electrical connectors.